


A summer in the sun

by Bright_Star



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 11:56:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15291006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bright_Star/pseuds/Bright_Star
Summary: Both Evan and Connor find themselves in France for the summer. An unlikely meeting sparks an even more unlikely friendship. As the two get to know each other and learn to open up they see that maybe the summer doesn't have to be as bad as they thought it would be.





	1. I.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for DEH. I'm still trying to find my way in to the characters but I hope you'll enjoy!. Disclaimer: I am not a native English speaker so please indulge my mistakes, or better point them out to me so that I can learn ;) 
> 
> Well there it goes!

“Come on come on come on”  
Evan Jumped up as soon as the seatbelt sign switched of and pushed past the line of people already waiting to get out. He rushed to the door of the plane and bolted down the stairs. Once he was on the ground he closed his eyes trying to remember how breathing worked. In and out and in and out. The blue of the sky was too bright and the air was so hot it felt like it suffocated him. Taking a plane all the way across the world to spent the summer in a country he’d never been with an aunt he barely knew, how had that been a good idea? “It will do you good Evan!” his mother had said. “A little colour on your skin, new people, fresh air! I wish I could come with you.” Of course this had been his mother’s idea. She was always trying to get him outside during summer, making friends, and with her working so much over the summer she couldn’t watch him the way she felt was necessary after what happened a few weeks before. She thought it best for Evan to stay with relatives. After his dad refused to let him ‘ruin the new family’, the only other option had been his mother’s sister: his aunt Mary who lived in France. He had eventually agreed to it But more than ten hours on a plane his condition had simply been a disaster. He had cried silently the first few hours until exhaustion had finally caught up with him and he had fallen asleep. And now he was here on a foreign airport with not a single clue as to what he was supposed to do. Once he calmed down a little he decided to follow the stream he was still feeling uneasy but at least he was working on getting the hell out of here. The luggage bands came into sight and Even caught a glimpse of his blue backpack and did a little sprint towards it oh God that was so awkward. He took the bag with a sigh, opened it and started rummaging around the t-shirts and shorts, he was happy he left his sweaters and long sleeved pants at home it would only have been extra weight with this weather. Plus it’s not like he even could wear the sweaters with his cast. Finally he fished the paper he was looking for from the bottom. It was a picture of his aunt Marie, he had only seen her once or twice right after his father moved out. He was only eight back then and could hardly remember what she looked like. She had a friendly face and a spark in her eyes, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. With the picture in hand he took off to the arrival hall and searched for Marie. There were positively too many people there and he felt dread creeping up on him _what if she isn’t here, what if I’m at the wrong airport, what if she hates you already_ but then he heard his name being shouted and saw her. She stood right in the middle and smiled and waved at him wildly, she was a lot plumper than on the picture which for some reason made her seem even friendlier. Evan tried to put on his best smile and went on to greet her.

“Evan, my boy! How you have grown, you look like a man now! Last time we saw each other you barely reached my knee. How was your flight? And where is your luggage, is that backpack all you have with you? And Mon Dieu what did you do to your arm?”

The questions came at him like bullets, way too fast for him to properly process but before he could say anything in reply she had already pulled him into a crushing hug. She smelled like the sun as a result of having lived in the south of France for the better part of her life, he liked it. When she finally released him it took him a few seconds before he remembered that she was probably waiting for an answer to all her questions.

“Erh Hi, I..” His aunt cut him off right there. 

“But my boy you must be tired, we'll go to the house immediately so you can rest, then you can tell me all your stories later!”

It was a two hour car ride from the airport to where Marie lived. She filled those hours with chattering away, not expecting any reply or sign of acknowledgement. Evan was grateful for it and just listened to her voice and stared dreamingly out of the window. The nature he saw flying pas was truly beautiful. Fields full of lavender and wine ranks all beneath a clear blue sky and a golden sun. There were trees he had never seen before. At least he would have something to keep his mind occupied this summer. 

The house was a charming little cottage with a seemingly large garden. He could see how well it fitted Marie. They sat down and ate a salad and French bread for dinner with a home-made cake with berries as dessert, she explained him that baking was one of her many hobbies. 

“If you're ever in the mood for an apple pie or two, just shout my boy! ” 

He kind of had to smile at that. His mother harldy ever had the time to cook and when she did it wasn’t exactly haute cuisine but Marie's cake had been absolutely delicious, he would probably take he up on that offer. 

“I-uh Thank, you Marie, I will” 

She smiled at him with a motherly look in her eyes. “So honey, let's get you to bed now, you look like you haven't slept in ages. You will get the guest room, it looks kind of empty right now feel free to decorate it in any way you like!”

She winked at him and went before him on the stairs. “Your room is the door on the left, the one on the right is your bathroom and the middle room here is empty. It used to be mine but I sleep downstairs now, can't handle the warmth at night you know.” 

Evan must have looked at her questionably because she immediately continued. 

“Oh it doesn't get that warm it's just, I'm old you know.” She laughed a little. “I'm sure your young body won't complain, now get some sleep, if you need me I'm downstairs. Bonne nuit mon cheri!” 

_What did that even mean?_

“Bonngh eh good night.” Evan managed to stammer. It had all been so much today, his mind had a hard time coping. It was nice to have the floor for himself though, that way she probably wouldn't check up on him as often as his mom did when she was home. He went in and flipped the light switch. The room that became visible was exactly like the ordinary guest room light with freshly dusted furniture made out of old wood and the distinct smell of air refresher. It felt cold and impersonal, maybe he could hang up some pictures out of his biology book he brought. But that was stuff for tomorrow he decided. Right now all he could think of was sleeping. The constant stress, even more than usual, had taken it’s tole and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep as soon as he sank down in the unfamiliar sheets.  
…  
Waking up to the sound of absolutely nothing was a blessing. There were no cars honking, no children shouting, there was nothing but blissful silence, nothing to trigger his nerves. Evan stretched his arm and legs and threw of the blanket. It was getting warm already. He rolled around to the night stand to grab his watch. Half past nine seemed like a decent hour to get up, before it got too hot to do basically anything other than breathing. He decided to take a quick shower, as fast as it could possibly go with his cast that had to be wrapped in a plastic sleeve. At least the shower resembled the one they had at home so he didn’t have to worry about doing anything wrong. Afterwards he threw on the first shirt and shorts found in his back pack, he made a mental note to unpack the thing later. When he came downstairs there seemed to be no one there. A slight panic rose in his chest, he wasn’t looking forward to breakfast conversation but he sure didn’t want to be alone in this house yet either. He took a deep breath and shouted.

“Good morning Marie!” 

There were a few beats of silence before he heard Marie's voice coming from the garden. “Out here my boy, breakfast is waiting for you!” 

The garden was a beautiful place. There were bees buzzing all over and the colours were stunning. He awkwardly took the seat across his aunt at the small garden table.

“So my boy, did you sleep well? You have to tell me everything about your life at home! How is Heidi?”

Everything in her mind must go as fast as in his Evan thought, only with her it seemed at least somewhat coherent and less stressful. 

“She’s uhm she’s good, studying and working you know or erhm no of course you don’t know you wouldn’t have asked me if you knew because then you already knew and you wouldn’t have to ask me, I’m sorry I’m rambling I’m sorry." He averted his gazes but could feel her looking at him for a while. Suddenly she cackled.

“It is nice to see someone that talks even more than I do. We are going to get along fine my boy.” Evan had to smile a little at that and the rest of the breakfast conversation went slightly smoother with him only apologizing every other sentence. 

Afterwards he desperately felt the need to be alone for a while. He needed some time to process the fact that he was actually here in France. Upstairs it had become a sauna and Marie kept on bustling through the tiny house. Maybe it was time for a walk, nature always had a calming effect on him anyways. He got his backpack, filled up his water bottle and approached his aunt in the garden.

“Marie, I uh if It’s okay I’m gonna go well I don’t mean go like go away but I uh wanted to take a walk if that’s okay?”

She beamed at him “But of course it is honey! Heidi said you would probably stay indoors the whole summer, look at you already enjoying France! Now if you just take a left here in front of the gate and follow that path you’ll eventually get to a small river that leads to a lake besides a nice patch of grass, it’s very quiet and also cool in these temperatures!”

Evan smiled “That sounds perfect thank you.”

The road was quiet indeed, the only sounds were the sand underneath his feet and the insect world that was so alive around here. Without anyone there Evan felt his mind calm down a little. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. He didn’t have to worry about the people at school or embarrassing himself that much, since he probably wasn’t going to meet a lot of people. He thought about an assignment his therapist had given him while ago he was supposed to write letters to himself about his day. Why not start now?  
Dear Evan Hansen today is going to be a good day and here’s why: You’re by yourself surrounded by nature. Aunt Marie seems really nice. It’s going to be a good week and a good summer.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the murphy family leaves for france

“No way! No I’m not coming!” Connor stomped up the stairs towards his room, his hands were itching to slam the door shut so hard that it would get his message clear across. Unfortunately his dad had decided to ruin this little pleasure for him too by taking his door away a few weeks earlier. The anger that was overflooding him still had to go somewhere, he dug his nails into his palms trying to control himself but his thoughts had gone on without him They’re doing this to punish you. Taking everything away that keeps you sane! Before he knew it he was seeing red and the stuff that had been on his desk were flying through the room, his fists banging on everything they could find. 

“Connor stop it!!” 

He turned around seeing his mother standing where his door had been. Zoë also stood there with tears in her eyes. she pushed past their mother into her own room.

“I hate you Connor you ruin everything” she shoutedbefore locking herself inside. 

Connor let out an angry bark “See she hates me, she doesn’t want me to come either!” 

His mother who sighed and took a step further into the room. Connor felt cornered and took a step back himself still trying to calm down from his outburst.

“Look honey, this is really important for your sister. That Jazzband camp only selects the best of the best worldwide and she got in! I understand that you don’t want to go but she can’t go alone and you can’t stay here by yourself after what happened. Besides it’s France, it will do us good to go away as a family we can get to know each other again.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind Connor felt like that would be something he would like very much. But reality kicked in soon enough, things would never work again between his family. He was a drug addict/psychopath after al according to them. Looking at his mother he almost dared to believe it still could happen though, she looked so hopeful. Heavy footsteps on the stairs announced his Father coming to ruin the moment. He barged into Connors room until they stood face to face.

“You, Connor Murphy, threw away any privilege you had of staying home when we found you here past out on drugs last month. You are coming with us end of discussion. Now give me your passport I’m booking the tickets.”

Connor felt his stomach twist when his dad brought that evening up. He was still so angry his parents hadn’t seen it for what it was: a cry for help, a sign that he was not okay. Stepping even closer to his dad he cocked his head and raised his eyebrows.

“No”.

Fires lit in his father’s eyes “Fine, I’ll find a way because you are coming whether you want it or not.” 

\--

By finding a was Connor reckoned his dad had meant stealing his passport while he slept. Otherwise he wouldn’t currently be on a train to God knows where in France. The flight had been alright, His dad had been smart enough to book Connor a separate seat somewhere at the other side of the plane. He hadn’t taken of his headphones or said a word to his family since they had forced him in the car to the airport. He liked being alone sure, but this way it felt very lonely. Being stuck not talking to the people that are supposed to be the ones closest to you. Them not trusting you and you not trusting your mind.  
When they got off the train a rental car was waiting for them, Connor felt like this journey was taking way to long already but luckily the house they rented for the summer came into sight soon enough. It was a small cottage kind of house. Connor feared the worst when he looked at the size of it. Zoë was the one that voiced his thoughts. 

“Mom, how many bedrooms did you say there were?” 

Their mother smiled a little uncomfortably “Well that was something we still have to discuss, there are only two so you and Connor will have to share.” 

Connor could see his sister getting ready to protest. _She’s probably afraid you’ll murder her in her sleep._

“I’ll sleep on the couch” he spoke up. It was strange to use his voice again after so many hours of silence.  
He nodded at Zoë before going inside to drop his bag on said (very small) couch. It would never fit his gangly legs he thought. Meanwhile his father seemed to be on edge trying to get everything sorted as soon as possible. Connor figured he’d better make himself useful by disappearing for a few hours to avoid any major fights on the first day. He grabbed his messenger bag and headed for the door.

“Connor where are you going?” his mother asked.

He stalled for a second thinking whether he should stay or not but thought the better of it. 

“Out” was his response. 

\--  
Connor had walked for a while when he started to get thirsty. The sun was burning and his all black ensemble wasn’t exactly helping him in this situation. He crossed a small stream that seemingly led up to a bigger river and decided to follow it, maybe it would lead to the next village with a local shop or something. The river steadily grew bigger, wilder and deeper, after rounding a bend Connor saw that it gave out in to a lake. A small path led him through a bunch of trees down to a patch of grass where you could sit to take in the view. It wasn’t the kind of water he had been looking for but damn it sure was beautiful. He sat there for a while contemplating the loneliness he had felt today. God he wished he had something to smoke. Trying to get weed through airport customs was something even Connor knew was quite impossible. It stressed him out not having any, knowing that there would be moments where he would very much need it to calm himself and calm his thoughts. His parents really didn't know what mess they had gotten themselves into. He started scratching the black nailpolish of his thumb trying to keep his thoughts focussed. He was sort of succeeding when he heard a scream coming from around the riverbend. It was quiet for a few seconds when there came a shout for help. Connor got to his feet and ran up the small pathway as fast as he could. The first thing he saw when he got to the river again was a stark white cast sticking out from the water. Attached to it was a boy struggling to get to the side, clearly panicking. Connor shoved his headphones of and threw them on the sand together with his phone and his shoes. Meanwhile the stranger appeared to started to panic even more because he seemed to have trouble even keeping his head about the surface. 

Connor ran toward the water calling out to the other boy “It’s okay I’m coming to get you!”.

The water wasn’t even that cold but still Connor felt a shock going through his body as he jumped in. The current was a lot stronger than it seemed from the side, he could understand the guy’s panic. Swimming was luckily one of the things on the admittingly very short list of shit Connor was actually good at. He got to the guy who was looking like a spastic starfish now.  
He grabbed him by his waist and tried to get him to calm down.

“Hey It’s okay ,I’m here, I’m gonna get you out alright? Just work with me, we are going to swim to the side together.” The stranger stopped flailing his limbs about and looked at Connor with the most fearful look he had ever seen. 

“M-m Iuh THE CAST” was all the guy seemed to get out. 

“Yeah yeah I get it, it can’t get wet. But you can’t die here either so we’ll make it work.” 

Together, although Connor did most of the swimming they got to the side. He pulled himself up first, stretching out his hand for the guy to grab. Once they were both on the grass the stranger let himself fall and curled into a ball. Connor stared at him for a while, still panting from the whole operation. There were small sobs coming from the drenched little human ball. He recognized that response but had no idea how to deal with it. He decided to just sit down and wait till the guy calmed down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be conversation in the next one :)

**Author's Note:**

> I have two more chapters written folks, I'll post them once I get more done :)


End file.
